[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 14498-14501]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              VOTE ``NO'' TO DEFUNDING PLANNED PARENTHOOD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2015, the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Clark) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.


                             General Leave

  Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Massachusetts?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, there has been a lot of talk 
about defunding Planned Parenthood. Some Republicans have made this 
such a priority that they are vowing to shut down our government, shut 
down our programs for veterans and hinder their ability to access 
services, WIC programs serving moms and babies, curtail services for 
domestic violence, and close our national parks and landmarks.
  The last Republican shutdown cost our economy $24 billion, but many 
of the GOP's Presidential candidates said in their debate just last 
night that defunding Planned Parenthood is a priority.
  We are not talking about abortion here. We are talking about access 
to health care. Under current law, Federal money cannot be used for the 
coverage for abortion except in the most extreme circumstances of rape, 
incest, or the possibility of the death of the mother. Even though most 
Americans disagree with that restriction and believe firmly that 
decisions surrounding pregnancy should be between a woman, her doctor, 
and her faith, that is not the law of the land currently.
  So if we are not talking about abortion, what are we talking about? 
What is this threat that will be stopped by cutting off all Federal 
funding for Planned Parenthood? What we are talking about is denying 
health care to the 2.7 million patients who received care just last 
year at Planned Parenthood.
  More than 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does is preventative 
care. This includes wellness exams, cancer screenings, contraception, 
prenatal care, and testing and treatment for STIs. Just last year, 
Planned Parenthood had over 2 million contraception patients, performed 
approximately 3.7 million STI tests, 370,000 Pap tests, and 450,000 
breast exams. These are the types of services patients receive at 
Planned Parenthood, and this preventive health care is what the 
majority would like to get rid of by defunding it.
  That is what is most important about this debate: the care that 
patients receive, the care that one in five American women will receive 
from Planned Parenthood at some point in their life.
  I would like to welcome my colleague, at this point, from New 
Jersey's 12th District, Congresswoman Watson Coleman. She is a strong 
voice for women and families. I am proud to call her a friend and a 
colleague, and I yield to the gentlewoman.
  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding to me.
  Mr. Speaker, for the umpteenth time, men in Congress are leading the 
charge to limit women's access to health care, but now, instead of just 
wasting taxpayer dollars and time, they plan to take their outrageous 
tactics to a whole new level, perhaps shutting down the entire Federal 
Government if they don't get their way. As the gentlewoman from 
Massachusetts has already explained, that is absolutely ridiculous.
  Rather than consider legislation that would fund repairs to our 
Nation's infrastructure or invest in our schools or create jobs for 
millions of Americans still out of work, we are considering legislation 
that would cut off support to an organization that provides vital 
health services to women and men who might not otherwise have access.
  Mr. Speaker, Planned Parenthood is, first and foremost, an 
organization dedicated to women's health. What is more, despite the 
endless conservative rhetoric to the contrary, Planned Parenthood does 
not use a single dollar of Federal funds to provide abortions. This is 
really just a thinly veiled attempt to allow Congress to regulate a 
woman's uterus, and the end result won't be the end of very legal 
abortions. It will be the erosion of care, family planning, and medical 
treatment for thousands of women.
  Wednesday's Washington Post offered a perfect example. It profiled a 
single Planned Parenthood clinic in Ohio, a clinic that does not offer 
abortion services. According to The Post, that clinic sees 7,100 
patients each year, most of them young and poor. They administer 3,400 
pregnancy tests, they write 2,900 birth control prescriptions, and they 
provide 13,200 screenings for sexually transmitted infections.
  Facilities like this make up nearly half of the Planned Parenthood 
centers nationwide. Cutting their funding will only result in more 
illness, more unplanned pregnancies, and more babies born to mothers 
unprepared to care for them.
  In 2013, Planned Parenthood provided more than 71,000 patients with 
care in my State, the State of New Jersey. They provided almost 16,000 
Pap tests to New Jersey women, and they conducted more than 33,000 
breast exams.
  In a shortsighted response to a series of questionably edited videos 
and false claims, we are going to take health care away from Americans 
with few, if any, alternatives. That is not what my constituents 
elected me for. That is not what they expected me to be doing in 
Congress. I am here to create jobs, to better educate our young people, 
and to reform our broken criminal justice system. By no means am I here 
to relitigate a woman's right to choose.
  Quite frankly, I am not sure which I am more disgusted by: the fact 
that we are doing this again, or the fact that I have come to the floor 
of this House so many times before to express that disgust.
  I urge my colleagues to consider taking up the work that really 
matters to the American people. I thank the gentlewoman from 
Massachusetts.
  Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. I thank the gentlewoman from New Jersey.
  I want to reiterate something that the Congresswoman said, that this 
is really a thinly veiled extremist position. What we are talking about 
is exactly as the gentlewoman from New Jersey put it. We are talking 
about relitigating rights that are established under the law and that 
have really nothing to do with abortion. They are having everything to 
do with the way that one in five American women receives her health 
care. And Planned Parenthood not only has a huge reach in the patients 
that they serve, but they historically serve low-income and underserved 
populations.
  For example, in 2013, 78 percent of Planned Parenthood patients had 
incomes of 150 percent of poverty or less. To put that in real terms, 
that is an income of a little over $36,000 dollars a year for a family 
of four. So not only does Planned Parenthood provide critical services 
to low-income families, but they also have a geographic reach to help 
ensure all patients have a healthcare access point.
  Nationwide, they represent 54 percent of all health centers in rural

[[Page 14499]]

areas, medically underserved areas, and health provider shortage areas. 
And in some areas, they are even a larger part of the healthcare 
system. In Alabama, Washington, D.C., Delaware, Louisiana, Mississippi, 
Montana, Rhode Island, and Wyoming, they are 100 percent of the health 
centers in rural areas, medically underserved areas, and health 
provider shortage areas. That is why Planned Parenthood is so critical.
  I am delighted to yield to my colleague from California's 33rd 
District. Congressman Lieu represents communities in Los Angeles. He is 
an Air Force veteran and Reservist, president of the freshman class of 
Democrats, and, as a California State senator, and now as a 
Congressman, he has had an unparalleled record on women's issues.
  I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. TED LIEU of California. Thank you, Representative Clark, for your 
great work on this issue.
  Madam Speaker, I rise to stand with Planned Parenthood.
  Last month, as it became more and more clear that Republicans were 
willing to shut down the Federal Government to defund Planned 
Parenthood, I received a letter from a constituent of mine in Los 
Angeles. She gave me permission to read her letter. It says:

       Dear Congressman Lieu,
       I grew up in a small desert town that had a very high teen 
     pregnancy and high school dropout rate. I made very poor 
     choices as a young teenager, and I was drinking, partying, 
     and ditching school at 15. During this time, I met a boy I 
     cared for and started having sex. I knew that I didn't want 
     to end up pregnant like a lot of young girls in my town, so I 
     went to the one place I knew would help: Planned Parenthood. 
     They made me feel comfortable there. They performed a 
     thorough exam and gave me birth control pills. They also 
     contacted me confidentially to tell me I had an STD and would 
     need to take antibiotics. Without treatment, this STD could 
     have made me permanently infertile.
       I thank God that I straightened my act out and, by the end 
     of high school, I was getting straight A's. I went to a good 
     college, graduated from medical school, and began my 
     residency. I met a great guy, who is now my husband, and 
     again went to Planned Parenthood for birth control pills, STD 
     screening, and Pap smears. Several years later, I finally 
     went off the birth control pills, and my husband and I got 
     pregnant with our first of two healthy children.
       I feel compelled to share my story because of everything 
     that Planned Parenthood has done for me in my lifetime. 
     Planned Parenthood allowed me to make good, healthy 
     reproductive decisions and avoid ever having to make a 
     decision as to whether or not to abort an unwanted pregnancy.

  That letter is from one of many constituents and from millions of 
women across America that have benefited from Planned Parenthood.
  The two bills on the floor today that are attacking Planned 
Parenthood are a direct attack on American women. In reality, a vote to 
defund Planned Parenthood is a vote to deny health care, education, and 
opportunity to millions of Americans like my constituent.
  I stand with American women and with Planned Parenthood in opposition 
to these two bills, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.
  Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Thank you, Congressman Lieu. We 
appreciate your coming. The story that you shared is repeated over and 
over with the millions of women that count on Planned Parenthood for 
their healthcare services.
  I would now like to yield to my colleague from Tennessee's Ninth 
District. Congressman Cohen is a champion on women's issues and a 
lifelong supporter of Planned Parenthood.
  Mr. COHEN. Thank you very much for the time, and thank you for 
scheduling this important hour, Special Order.
  Madam Speaker, this issue is extremely important to women, to men, to 
the Constitution, and to progress, and this week has been, 
unfortunately, very much an example of what the House has been doing 
throughout this session--messaging.
  We are about to have a shutdown of government because of Planned 
Parenthood, and the cost to our economy and to people for a shutdown of 
the Federal Government is astronomical. The last shutdown, which I 
think was in 2013--it might have been 2011--cost hundreds of billions 
of dollars to the economy. The stock market fell, people lost jobs, 
lost income, and lost services all because of Planned Parenthood.

                              {time}  1900

  The bottom line is that Planned Parenthood is an outstanding 
organization that serves women in this Nation, in my State, and in my 
city--mostly low-income women and a lot of women of color.
  There, they get their basic female healthcare services whether it is 
cervical cancer exams, breast cancer exams, sexually transmitted 
disease tests, family planning programs.
  It is not about abortion. A very small part of it is abortion. It is 
not called ``Planned Abortion.'' It is called ``Planned Parenthood.''
  Madam Speaker, most people are in need of those services. To cut them 
out, as they talked about, and to give them to community health centers 
is not the answer. That doesn't work as it is going to disadvantage a 
lot of women.
  What we have had this week is a bill--the most recent bill--did 
anybody discuss the fact that this second bill didn't go to committee? 
I guess it is called the ``unborn baby bill,'' whatever it is. Has that 
been discussed?
  Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. No.
  Mr. COHEN. That is the amazing thing. This bill that has come up--
that will come up tomorrow, I guess--never went to committee. In fact, 
it was kind of just sprung on us on Monday, and they didn't even get 
the language straight until maybe Tuesday.
  Madam Speaker, in the Congress, we generally have committee meetings. 
You have a hearing on a bill almost always--that is what committees are 
for, is to have hearings--sometimes by a subcommittee and then, later, 
by a full committee--and a markup, sometimes by the subcommittee, 
always at least by the full committee. Then it goes to the Rules 
Committee, and then it comes to the floor.
  When this Congress came about, the majority party made a big deal 
about how they were going to come in and change the way things were 
done and how there was going to be regular order.
  Bills weren't going to be brought to the floor without any notice; 
committees would do their work; amendments would be offered; and people 
would get an opportunity to testify from the public.
  This bill was given no markup in committee, no hearing in committee, 
no opportunity for the public to voice any concerns as to whether they 
were for it or against it, and no Congresspeople on the committee had a 
chance to voice their concerns.
  In essence, it was sprung on the public. The bill will have a new 
definition of ``abortion''--unknown before in Federal law. That is a 
pretty major thing--with no hearing, no notice, no opportunity to 
address the issue, no opportunity to maybe bring in somebody who is an 
expert to say: You might have missed this. You might have missed that. 
This is the way it ought to be. No.
  Madam Speaker, this week in Congress, the Republican side has 
basically said: We don't want to hear from the public. We don't want to 
hear from doctors. We don't want to hear from women. We don't want to 
hear from them on another bill we had up today. We don't want to hear 
from judges on something that affects the Federal courts, where the 
judges, in reviewing it, voted by 85 percent ``bad idea''--no judges, 
no lawyers, no doctors, no women, no public--because that side of the 
House knows how to do everything.
  They know how to define ``abortion.'' They know how to run the 
courts. They know how to run women's lives. Choice and reproduction 
should be a decision between a woman, her family, her conscience, and 
her doctor, not what this side wants.
  What this side wants is to repeal Roe v. Wade. They want to do away 
with a woman's right to abortion. That is what this is about. They pick 
these other issues to talk about, but that is what they really want. If 
that happens, it is going to be no different than alcohol prohibition 
in the twenties and marijuana today.
  Alcohol was illegal. So what happened? People got alcohol and they

[[Page 14500]]

drank, but they drank because organized crime supplied it for them--no 
taxes, lots of organized crime, lots of killings between organized 
crime.
  Marijuana. Do people have problems getting marijuana? People don't 
have problems getting marijuana. It is everywhere. It was at George 
Bush's school. It is everywhere. It is not hard to get, but it gives 
the cartels a way to sell it. It happens.
  Madam Speaker, when abortion was illegal in this country, wealthy 
women could afford to go to Mexico or wherever it was legal and get 
abortions. Poor people went to get abortions, but they had to go to 
somebody who maybe didn't have a clean area in which to do the 
procedure or the experience or the ability. Poor women went to back 
alleys and oftentimes had health detriments because of it and sometimes 
lost their lives.
  So abortion is not going to be outlawed in this Congress, I don't 
think, but that is what they would like to do. Even if it is outlawed, 
it is still going to happen. If it happens, it is going to happen for 
the rich, and the poor are going to get the worst services.
  You can't take your morality and tell the American public, when they 
want some service, some opportunity, some freedom, that they can't have 
it, because they will find it. It will just be through a roundabout 
way.
  Madam Speaker, I thank Ms. Clark for having this Special Order. I am 
going to always support Roe v. Wade and support Planned Parenthood. It 
does a lot for the women in my district. As I said, it is one of the 
best organizations in our country, and I believe that.
  They help women with services they otherwise couldn't get. In a lot 
of States like mine, where the Affordable Care Act has not been 
extended through the expansion of Medicaid, it is even more difficult 
for poor women to get medical services and even life-saving services.
  So thank you. We will continue to message and continue to fight and 
hope the American public realizes that what is going on here is 
shutting them out--no voice, no message--simply activity.
  Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. I thank the gentleman from Tennessee for 
his words and for his commitment to women and their access to health 
care and for pointing out the confounding thing about defunding Planned 
Parenthood, which is that we are not even talking about abortion, as we 
have already restricted that Federal funding.
  Madam Speaker, we are talking about access to health care to 
underserved women, to low-income women, who are trying to get general 
wellness checkups, who are trying to have cancer screenings, who are 
trying to access health care.
  It is Planned Parenthood that fills that void in our underserved 
populations, in our rural areas. That is where they make a critical 
difference.
  You are absolutely right in that the messaging that this is somehow 
about something else is completely hiding the fact that we are bringing 
bills to the floor without committee hearings, that we are not being 
transparent, and that we are misleading the American public about what 
this debate is about.
  I am delighted that we also have another champion for working 
families and a great voice for the communities he serves.
  I yield to my colleague from California's 36th District, Congressman 
Ruiz.
  Mr. RUIZ. I thank the gentlewoman.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of a woman's right to choose, 
women's health, and Planned Parenthood.
  You see, before I ran for Congress, I spent 9 years as an emergency 
medicine physician. A few years ago, a 55-year-old woman came into my 
emergency room with a gynecological hemorrhage.
  After we stopped the bleeding in the ER, we admitted her for 
diagnosis and treatment. Sadly, as I suspected, she had advanced 
cervical cancer, and 5 months later, she died, leaving her family 
behind.
  Until recently, cervical cancer was the leading cause of cancer 
deaths for women in the United States. However, over the past 40 years, 
we have dramatically reduced the number of deaths from cervical cancer.
  According to the CDC, ``This decline largely is the result of many 
women getting regular Pap tests, which can find cervical pre-cancer 
before it turns into cancer.''
  Madam Speaker, that is what is at stake in this debate.
  In fact, 97 percent of Planned Parenthood's services are not abortion 
related. Planned Parenthood provides many health and wellness services, 
including STI testing, contraceptives, and cancer screenings to over 2 
million women and men each year.
  Opponents of Planned Parenthood's want to turn this into a debate 
about abortion, but it is not. Let's be clear. Defunding Planned 
Parenthood won't reduce the number of abortions at all.
  This is a debate about cervical cancer. This is a debate about breast 
cancer. This is a debate about how many women we are going to allow to 
go undiagnosed and untreated. This is a debate about how many women we 
are going to allow to show up in emergency rooms like mine, with 
terminal cancer, too late to be saved.
  In California alone, Planned Parenthood health centers have provided 
over 93,000 Pap tests for cervical cancer and 97,000 breast exams to 
help prevent death from breast cancer.
  Madam Speaker, Planned Parenthood saves lives.
  Here is who actually loses if Planned Parenthood loses its funding: 
Women in geographically underserved areas lose; uninsured and 
underinsured women lose; women on Medicaid lose; and low-income women 
lose.
  Planned Parenthood fills that access gap and provides essential 
health services to those who need it the most. Cutting their funding 
will have a long-term, devastating effect on the overall health of 
women in our communities, worsening health outcomes and health 
disparities for women across our Nation.
  To me, this isn't a political debate, because I have seen firsthand 
what happens when women don't have access to preventative care. Women 
die; children are left without their mothers; and families are torn 
apart.
  It is for these reasons that I oppose this misguided, mean-spirited, 
politically driven measure, and it is for these reasons that I stand 
with Planned Parenthood.
  Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. I thank the gentleman from California for 
sharing his experience as a medical doctor and as someone who stands 
with Planned Parenthood.
  Thank you for joining us.
  Congressman Ruiz raises an interesting point about looking at our 
system of health care.
  Part of the proposal from the Republicans is that this is easy, that 
we can simply take the money from Planned Parenthood and give it to 
community health centers, but there is simply not the capacity in the 
system to handle these extra patients.
  Currently, more than half of Medicaid providers are not offering 
appointments to new Medicaid patients, but two-thirds of the States 
report difficulty in ensuring enough providers, including OB/GYN care.
  Madam Speaker, this hurts low-income women especially hard because 60 
percent of Planned Parenthood patients access care through Medicaid 
and/or Title X, and 35 percent of women view their OB/GYN as their main 
source of care.
  So what we are talking about here is not abortion, but women's health 
care, preventative measures that save lives.
  We know that over 90 percent of the services Planned Parenthood 
provides are preventative. We know that they serve underserved areas.
  We know that there isn't enough capacity to see these patients in 
other settings and that eliminating funding for Planned Parenthood 
would mean over 390,000 patients would no longer receive health care.
  If all of this sounds crazy to you, you are not alone. It is why I 
came down here tonight, and I thank my colleagues who joined me.
  It is time that we reveal the falsehoods of this argument and defeat 
these efforts--these radical efforts--that are threatening to shut down 
our government in order to defund Planned

[[Page 14501]]

Parenthood, which carries so much of our healthcare system for women in 
this country and especially for low-income women.
  It is time we stand up, debunk the lies and the mysteries that we are 
being told, and let women have the healthcare access that they need and 
deserve.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________